News is what somebody somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is advertising.

Weston’s TD closures–all a misunderstanding! (Or explained.)

TD Bank has realized the error of its ways, they swear. No longer will the bank be closing branches, like they did in Weston (twice). No, TD told the Globe and Mail last weekend,now they’re all about the customer. And this time they mean it.

According to the press release Globe and Mail, TD was closing branches because they were investing in ‘fintech’. Now, though, “TD is emphasizing a reinvestment in its branches, one that is multifaceted. For one, the physical formats are changing – fewer tellers, more wealth advisers; less total square footage, but larger meeting rooms.”

And there’s the rub. These aren’t branches like we used to have–places where you might quickly cash a cheque or have your kids turn in the rolled-up coins they collected for the cadets. There’s no profit in that, so you’ll have to wait in line.

These are branches where the leather-soled won’t have to share their green Naugahyde lounger with the steel-toed. And that explains why TD moved to Weston and Oak: the distance and architecture of the bank will discourage actual banking but encourage high-margin loans and investment. They didn’t move there and make banking hard in Weston. They moved there to make banking hard in Weston.

Thank you for your thoughtful article. TD and the other vanishing branches are an issue for the people who live in Weston without cars and with limited mobility or means, and crowing about your successes in making banking comfortable while cutting off personal banking services is hypocrisy. Not unexpected, but wrong.